Building Safe and Resilient Cities and Communities through South-South and Triangular Cooperation: Innovative Partnerships and Solutions for the Rapidly Urbanizing Global South

Urbanization is at its most rapid pace in the Global South, with cities projected to emerge or grow fastest in the next decades in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. Providing basic or essential services like housing to a growing population has always been crucial to the inclusive, sustainable growth and resilience of cities and of countries as a whole. In the current landscape of interlocking development challenges, geopolitical shifts, and economic uncertainties, building cities as home to nearly half of humanity and as engines of growth requires strategies anchored in the context of the Global South and solutions that lean on the knowledge and capacities of stakeholders in the Global South.

South-South and triangular cooperation (SS&TrC) can enable, facilitate, and broaden avenues for countries and their cities facing similar challenges to share knowledge, lend technical support, and build collective capacities (human, institutional, technological, etc.) in a manner that ensures mutual benefit and poses no burden. Governments increasingly view these cooperation modalities essential as they navigate declining official development assistance (ODA) and tight financial space. The transformation of the Global South is also elevating not only the evolving needs unique to their socio-economic landscape but also the new capacities they can draw on for Southern-led solutions.

This dialogue is designed to facilitate exchanges on how to leverage SS&TrC for building inclusive and resilient cities and economies, with a focus on housing and basic services. Speakers will elaborate on the socio-economic dimensions of priorities, Southern-anchored approaches and strategies responding to those, and the footprint of as well as prospects for Southern-led collaborations. It aims to help partners:

• Build the knowledge base for Southern-led strategies, identifying and collecting data and replicable practices specific to the context of the Global South
• Broaden, deepen or renew partnerships and collaborations, connecting communities of practice across the SS&TrC and sustainable urban development spaces
• Enable a sustained and systematic channel or platform for policy advocacy
• Broaden base of resource support, helping identify financing and other opportunities for strengthening action, exploring pipelines and dedicated initiatives supporting SS&TrC for sustainable urban development.

Guiding Questions

Governments: In the context of increasing complexities, what do you see as imperatives for our collective action? What are the priorities and challenges you face on the ground and how are you responding to those (examples of efforts).  Please share top three recommendations for our collective action.

UN entities: How are UNCTs responding to needs and priorities of countries? What concrete examples of SS&TrC can you share? Leaning on insights from those efforts, what would you recommend in terms of how we can leverage SS&TrC for greater impact?

Stakeholders: Reflections on what speakers shared? Recommendations for concrete next steps, including how your efforts could strengthen SS&TrC efforts?

Moderator: 

Mr. Patrick Canagasingham: Director, Regional Programme Division, UN-Habitat

Speakers:

• Ms. Sarah Hendriks: Director of the Policy, Programme and Intergovernmental Support Division (PPID), UNWomen (video message)